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Is one of these TOP defenders set for Arsenal transfer?

Until Arsene Wenger gets into ‘transfer mode’ with Arsenal, although I suspect that the Frenchman and his transfer team have been working on their summer targets already, we do not know for sure which players will be joining the Arsenal squad this summer or even which positions that the Frenchman is planning to strengthen.

The smart money, however, says that the Gunners will be looking to add a striker, central midfielder, centre back and keeper and so this report on the stats website Squawka.com might be of some use to the prof as it lists the top 10 performers in defence across the top five leagues in Europe this season.

While I think we can forget about completing the transfer of Gerard Pique, John Terry, Leonardo Bonucci and Thiago Silva, the rest of the names on the list are all potentially attainable so I wonder if the names of Otamendi of Valencia, Jantschke of Borussia Monchengladbach, Perrin of St. Etienne, Fonte of Southampton, Jagielka of Everton or Naldo of Wolfsburg are on the Arsenal manager’s list of targets.

There have been quite a few Arsenal transfer rumours concerning 29-year old Perrin while Jagielka and Fonte are Premier League proven although maybe a bit on the old side at 32 and 31. Man United are said to be on the verge of signing Otamendi but nothing is done yet. The clear number one on the list is 32-year old Naldo who has been massive at the heart of Wolfsburg’s very impressive defence and has also chipped in with seven goals.

34 thoughts on “Is one of these TOP defenders set for Arsenal transfer?”

Don’t think we’ll buy a CB this summer. A possible switch between Gabriel and Mertesacker at some point and battles between Bellerin and Debuchy for RB and Gibbs and Moreal for LB are the only changes we’re likely to see next season in the back four. *prays for no injuries*.

or kos and gabriel dare i say? bigotry nearly, but don’t write off merts: the way he plays relies less on physicality like koscielny. like how pirlo can still play, but a more physical dm couldn’t be able to.

i’m not saying it will happen, just great to have 3 great cbs at the club again, but just don’t write merts off bc it s a popular opinion to have. he is pretty solid

Per will be given the credit he deserves when he leaves. The ridicule the guy gets from some on here is a disgrace. Kos AND Per are the best CB pairing we have had for a while now – he makes way less mistakes than people would have you believe – the end of the known world and humiliation is predicted every time the bloke steps on the field but guess what…..it doesn’t come to pass. Last Saturday just the latest example with all the crap chat about what Benteke was gonna do to him. For a guy who is supposed to be absolute s%%t he must be pretty lucky to pick up a WC and 2 FA cups in 12 months.

Well spoken Jonesy. Per has been crucial to this team’s success. On his won, you worry about him but with Koscielny by his side, he excels. At the end of the day, performance is really about balance. Once you get the right balance, an okay player becomes a genius. Look at Coquelin sticking to what he is good at. Amazing.

Correct. Mert buckled up and finished season in style. You all remember that I have said that I hate him after the game against Monaco. The last games he really changed his game and offered a lot more confidence. Of course I am sorry for saying that I hate him, I don’t really hate anyone, was just frustration we couldn’t get a game we had in our pocket. Is just that the few mistakes he made were the most costly this season.

On a side note, what’s happening with Schneiderlin, I notice that we’re no longer favourites to sign him. We’re all the way out at 7/2 to be his next club? United are 8/11 odds on. Has Arsene gone cold on him or have United seemingly stole it?

I think, and i stress THINK, Wenger is doing his usual in terms of reacting to possible deals made available via the old domino effect. Khedira is about to land at Juve so Vidal is all of a sudden “available” with the right money, I think he’s now our priority.

We have Rambo, Coquelin, Jack, and Ox as our who are all under 25 in the central midfield, we’re losing Flamini/Arteta/Rosicky and maybe Cazorla in this window or the next. Vidal is just 28 so he’s absolutely at his prime, and perfect for us really.

Not as elegant as Schneiderlin but I think the oft quoted jibe about Arsenal’s “soft centre” would disappear pretty quickly if we had him strolling around the middle. He clearly looks like he is on the move but wouldn’t like to guess where. On the face of it our CM/CDM looks quite crowded but for one reason or another many are not going to be around much longer and several others are unfortunately too injury prone to be able to properly rely upon.

OT from the CB subject but I really don’t think we need a ST like everyone is saying but actually a RW. Wenger said himself Walcott will be going central eventually and if you haven’t noticed all season long especially when Ox got injured we’ve been playing our CM’s out there. Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Cazorla, Rosicky and hell even Welbeck. Can’t be anymore obvious to me a position that’s crying out for reinforcement, or are we going to wait until Ox has to sit out a few games to fling the CM’s out there again? Plus Podolski just doesn’t cut it for Arsenal and I can’t see Campbell making it either. Griezmann, Fekir or Bale even though his price tag is stratospherical LOL are the type of players we need to fill that spot. Just my observation throughout this past season…

aubameyang. he didn’t say he wants to stay necessarily. he said he will talk to directors and wait for the new coach. but ffs. if the money is right and we re offering CL we shld be able to steal one of the dortmund guys.

Would rather Reus, but personally would prefer a left footed player and here’s why. Looking at the top clubs in Europe like Barca, Madrid and Bayern who religiously make it to the final 4 of the CL year after year they all have 1 thing in common, a balanced front 3. Barca has Neymar @ LW, Messi @ RW and Suarez as the ST, Madrid has Ronaldo @ LW, Bale @ RW and Benzema as the ST, while Bayern has Ribery @ LW, Robben @ RW and Lewandoski as the ST. A right footer on the left to cut in and score, a left footer on the right to cut in and score and a top ST in the middle. Goals from all 3 fronts. Might sound stupid but that’s my reasoning for a left footer for the RW as we already have Sanchez @ LW, Walcott will be our new ST so there’s only 1 piece missing..,

People are quick to forget that we paid 16 million for chambers. Yes£16 fxx million. Should we just let him rots with the under 21.? he is clearly a CB and will come good for Arsenal. I think we have 4 very good Cb in Boss per gabby and Chambers.

Fans asking a CB are Greedy. yes very greeddy.. Tell me any top football club with 5 CB? Cause we have 4 CB at Arsenal. Tell me one football club with 5 CB?

Chelsea won the league with terry Cahill and zouma.
Real has Pepe ramos Varane
City has Kompany Dimichelis and Mangala
Barca has Pique Mathew and vaminator + Macherano(DM)

So can anyone explain to me why some fans want us to have 5CB? And please also expalin how you are going to give games to 5CB without looking stupid.

The old “panic buy” jibe. Evidence? £16M for decent English players is the norm and you know it. Carroll (£35M), Lallana (£25M), Downing (£20M), Henderson (£18M), Shaw (£27M) etc make these boys look like value. You’ve labelled a 20yr rookie as an average talent – there is no reason whatsoever why he can’t be a top CB for us for the next 10-12 years. Very decent investment. As you graciously say DW “may develop” and yes he is back-up, pretty decent back-up option in my opinion.

Maybe Welbeck was panic buy (like Wenger ever panics, but hey is what you think). Chambers was a masterstroke. Basically Wenger bought the best Southampton had to offer last summer. Don’t believe? Look at the other ones, Lalana, Lambert, Shaw. Would you have any of these for Chambers? I know I wouldn’t.

2 necessary signing:
if theo is staying on and as a striker then a rw. enough with playing cms there ! 🙂
i’m thinking aubameyang, reus. come on, we go Cl-football… wld be awesome strikeforce with options galore!

dm. if khedira is really that close to going to juve, then for the right money a vidal wld be a dream. other ones are out there too. (i know vidals a b2b, but come on. what a beast of a cm).
krychoviak, kondo, chris kramer, schneiderlin, guilavogui. get it done.

gk- only if a wc one becomes available, looks like shez is staiying.
lb- if nacho leaves, i think that rumour is utter bs.

Love to have Vidal as well and that B2B tag means nothing, we forget Arteta was Evertons #10 before we got him. He completely adjusted his role for the benefit of our club and he did so admirably I might say even though some might not see his actual value to us. Now if Arteta can make such a change why couldn’t Vidal be just as disciplined not to mention he’s on a different level…

Can’t see us in the market for a CB…perhaps a LB if rumours of Monreal’s departure have any legs.
Per, Gab, Kos, Chambers (Debuchy!) all can play at CB.

On the subject of the RW…the position we play on the right is more of an Attacking Midfield Right rather than a pure RW. Neymar, Messi don’t play as true wingers, etc. Having a left footer on the right and vice versa is the ideal for Attacking Mids to cut in. If you truly want a LW or RW then you play a left footer on the left and vice versa…the stronger foot to deliver crosses and you’d want to have an aerial superiority in the box for that strategy. That’s not how we play. we use Attacking Mids and rely on our fullbacks to provide the width. So we are not after a RW and neither do we need one.
Ox, Rambo, Jack (Gnabry anyone?) have the right covered assuming Walcott plays as a No 9.
Frankly I would like to see Rambo switch it up more with Sanchez between L n R….and with Carzola in terms of dropping deep and releasing Carzola up front from time to time.

And we can and should play both Walcott and OG12 with Walcott starting at the AMR spot and in attacking plays moving up off the shoulder of OG12 creating a 2 up front. When he vacates his right space Carzola moves up in cover, Coquelin still provides the shield. In this scenario you can interchange the names Carzola, Coquelin, Ramsey, Ox, Arteta and Jack as you wish.

With this kind of fire-power, there are multiple options to goal (a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C) which don’t rely on tikka-takka around the box 🙂

I have no doubt AW is developing Jack, Rambo, Ox, Gnabry to be complete midfielders able to take on a variety of roles within the team structure. Ox has really improved his tackling, work rate, dribbling…and he will just keep getting better and better.

Sometimes I think fans don’t quite appreciate what we have in our team…gazing covetously at the talent in other teams presuming they must be better.
As I have said in earlier posts – I am really looking forward to seeing which of our team has break-through performance years like Hector and Coquelin have had…make no mistake, it (performance breakthroughs) becomes infectious…players believe they can, because they’ve seen it unfold before their eyes through day to day interaction.

Jack, Walcott, Ox, Welbeck, Sanogo, Chambers, Bielik, Akpom, Hector, Coquelin, Crowley, Gibbs, Gab, Rambo,…all can/will keep getting better and better. There is much to be excited about in terms of who we have within squad and yeah, adding 1 or 2 quality players can only accelerate the onfield performances.

But anyone suggesting wholesale changes…well frankly, in my mind, they are clueless.

I think Wenger will believe the squad is strong enough. He will sign one player and leave us still behind other teams who will spend well. Breaks my heart but have we forgot Wenger still has his ‘demons’. Shame we could win the league with three top class additions. Wenger though is preparing us for some transfer disappointment. He has already said no Vidal, no Schneiderlin. Still they were brilliant winning the FA Cup.

We have to break out of this habit every year going on about how every team is going to improve through buying more players. If Chelsea, City and United all “spend well” who is going to win the league? Two of them would have spent well and failed. Man U, L’pool and City all spent big last year and didn’t get any better. Chelsea will buy more depth – difficult to see how they will significantly improve their 1st X1 – particularly if Mou aims to play in the same conservative manner.

We already have Gabriel who I see as Koscielny’s Clone.. He ll be the hit player next season when he relegates Per to the bench.

Chambers have so much potential, presently he is as good as Cahill while at Bolton and he is only 19.. The Community shield game was a revelation.

Debuchy is just like Sagna n can also play the CB position well..

Conclusion: If we must get a CB, it should be after we have sorted pressing need of a STRIKER and he should be better than our best CB,Koscielny.. There aint many better than Kosci.. From ur list ,maybe Thiago Silva,….Varane,Bonucci(arguable) .. The remaining are either too old or below Koscielny.

I would be completely shocked if we were to get another CB let alone another defender.
RB – Bellerin, Debuchy and Jenkinson as he’s still on our books
LB – Monreal, Gibbs
CB – Mertesacker, Kosielny, Gabriel, Chambers, Hayden

What more do we need, the only way I see us getting another defender is if one leaves and that’s not counting Jenkinson as he is now excess at RB to be honest.